eMOTION! REPORTS.com Analysis Part One: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

Composite to Metal Conjoining Issues Not Seen as Resolved Long Term

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- eMOTION! REPORTS.com, an automotive and aerospace industry research and analysis site founded in 2001 targeting professionals within the academic, media, corporate and governmental sectors, has just gone live on its blogs with a two-part analysis of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. "In the interest of professional full disclosure, I completely disagreed with Boeing's decision to drop development of the Sonic Cruiser, an aircraft with the potential to completely reshape the commercial air travel landscape in a way not seen since the debut of the jet-powered DeHavilland Comet, Boeing 707 and Supersonic Concorde, the latter of which I had the privilege of flying four times, in favor of the aesthetically boring - save for the exquisite interior- though technologically advanced Dreamliner," says Publisher Myron D. Stokes, an award-winning former Newsweek, Newsweek Japan and Newsweek International special correspondent. "An analysis in queue, but never completed owing to national security related events which commanded our full attention analytically, was entitled 'Boeing Chooses Mediocrity Over Greatness.' Indeed, a wonderful opportunity was missed to give the flying public a large glimpse of the future in aircraft design, and one that would have had people flocking to airports just to see it. It should be mentioned however, that according to Flight Global'sSteve Trimble in April, there is reconsideration -on going as we speak- of a somewhat reconfigured, and in all likelihood Mach 1 capable, Sonic Cruiser as replacement for 757."

Stokes says the foregoing statement is one given substance when he recalls recommending to thenBritish Airways Director of Public Relations John Lampl that he should strongly consider having Concorde visit Tampa International Airport. In the aftermath of having flown this superlative aircraft on its inaugural run for Miami service in March of 1984 and then again the following year. " I felt this visit would act as a stimulus for further developing the passenger base in the Tampa – St.Petersburg -Clearwater market," Stokes said. "John agreed, and Concorde did indeed visit Tampa in 1985 and thrilled the 100,000+ people who responded to an excellent PR campaign that included a full page ad simply saying 'Concorde's Coming!'."

Managerial Weakness?

Stokes believes that Boeing management, under the then captaincy of Dr. Philip Condit, weakly bowed to pressure from Airbus' John Leahy along with an under informed aviation media's public debunking of Boeing's Sonic Cruiser announcement in 2001 following a near total rejection of its revamped 747X in favor of the "clean sheet of paper" A380 Super Jumbo. "In hindsight,: Stokes says, this action must be viewed as nothing more than a thinly disguised fear by Leahy that the proposed near-sonic Boeing aircraft would simply neutralize the market momentum and presumed ascendancy induced by A380."

Stokes notes In the 2001 ER analysis"Boeing Going?" , Leahy was quoted as saying "The 747 is a very fine airplane, but it's based on 1960′s technology." To which the editorial team responded: "Someone should remind Mr. Leahy that airframes, properly maintained, can theoretically last forever. Considering the reality of avionics/flight systems modularity, even a DC-3 can be modified to operate on the technological edge. Expanding on the statement '1960's technology', he ought to remember this era produced aircraft of such superlative design and performance that they are considered aeronautical engineering benchmarks to this day. Names that readily come to mind include Concorde, SR-71, X-15 and Harrier. Not to mention we went to the moon in 1969."

Stokes further observed that Boeing, in two releases entitled "Boeing Sonic Cruiser will Change the Way the World Flies" and "Boeing Unveils the Future at Paris Air Show" the pivotal role this aircraft would play was clearly not lost on the Boeing team when a 3-dimensional model was unveiled during the 2001 Paris Air Show: PARIS, June 19, 2001– Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally unveiled a model of the company's new 'Sonic Cruiser' today at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, giving the world its first three-dimension look at the airplane that will change the way the world flies. The new airplane, which flies higher, faster and farther than today's jets, will connect people, ideas and opportunities in new and more efficient ways. It also will provide airlines with a means to serve their customers' changing needs and achieve greater operational benefits. The sonic cruiser is expected to fly at speeds of up to Mach .98 or fasterover extended ranges.

"It is of interest that Airbus was forced to proffer a rival concept to Sonic Cruiser; a clear signal Boeing's announcement induced not a few sleepless nights for the European aircraft manufacturer's executive suite. According to our sources, the flight experience transparency materials concept announced in 2010, is either a direct derivative of an internal 2001 concept or was heavily influenced by same," he said.

With the delivery of 787 aircraft to launch customer ANA last September, and the near completion of its world tour flight demonstrations, Boeing appears to be on a roll.

"The myriad manufacturing process issues, particularly the conjoining of metal to composites, seemed to have been resolved," says Stokes, "although academic colleagues in the field of metallurgy and an aerospace industry supplier are not totally convinced that Boeing has crafted a long term solution to the latter concern."